


Aboard the Black Dove

by BaKanda_soba



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ghosts, One Shot, Original Universe, Pirates, Space Pirates, To Be Continued, pirate terms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 16:12:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12084594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaKanda_soba/pseuds/BaKanda_soba
Summary: An original work for my creative writing class that I'm rather proud of.Timothy died at the age of 18 on his birthday, now as a ghost, he works aboard the Black Dove as the new Rigging Master..





	Aboard the Black Dove

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so I wrote this for my creative writing class but didn't want to just end the story there. So now here is the one shot that I turned in for a grade.

The wind whistled rustling Timothy's hair, silver locks blew left then right. Reaching up he pressed a hand above his brow searching the horizon for any signs of another ghost ship. The stars twinkled from above pulling his attention up. Groping lower he dug around the table next to him for a sextant, finding it he glanced down then back up placing the metal contraption against his eye. Lining it up he called out longitude then latitude. 

Down below, he heard a voice call out, "Timothy! Help me with this Oakum!" Otto's voice rang out. Looking down he spotted Otto just a few yards off lugging a bucket of oakum and a belt of tools strapped to his back. Setting down the metal contraption he swung himself off the small platform used for navigation.

Landing with a thud, he stumbled over to Otto. Grabbing onto one side he helped him heft the heavy bucket towards a scratched-up part of the deck that had been ripped up during the last battle. "Repairs are almost finished, just gotta get this one last piece then I can move on to sprucing up the canteen." Timothy nodded puffing up his cheeks he lifted the bucket higher then set it down just next to a patch of the splintered deck. Otto lowered his end and flexed his fingers, working the stiffness out of them one by one.

Around them, the ship bustled with life... or rather, undead considering they were all ghosts. Yeah, Timothy was a ghost, he died on his birthday August 14, 2017, at the tender age of 18. He hadn't even finished high school, Timothy wasn't bitter about it though. Because now he was living a different life... or rather death... if you want to get into the specifics.

Now he works aboard the Black Dove, a noble ghost ship with an interesting crew if he had to say so himself. The Black Dove was a medium sized Sloop by pirate standards apparently, it measured 40 feet tall at its highest point and 50 feet long from stem to stern. The crew consisted of 30 men and the ship held around eight cannons, four on the left and four on the right. The ship was painted black with light blue trim.  
The captain was another story though, he was... how should he say... lazy. Timothy and the rest of the crew admired the man and would gladly lay themselves on the line for him but in all honesty, would it hurt if he could be just a bit more productive and maybe not only step up during a battle but also during general life. Katugiri Hanamaru was a flamboyant and playful man, the captain of the esteemed Black Dove no less, he should act like it. Instead, he would rather sleep and play poker with the crew. 

During his time on the Black Dove, he had made two friends, Otto Tesla Marleybone, and Hasamatsu Hasabe. Otto was around 5'8" with brown hair and eyes and a light tan, he was the ship's carpenter and surgeon. which essentially meant he fixed the ship and crew so Timothy normally helped him after he had finished his duties as Master Rigger. His other friend, Hasamatsu Hasabe, preferred being referred to by his last name so as a compromise everyone just called him Hasa.

Hasa was Master Gunner, he handled maintenance of the Cannons and Gunpowder. He could be found below deck polishing his hand-held pistol or doing some other small menial task. Timothy offered his help but often Hasa would simply finish up and offer his help in return. Someday Timothy would help him he knew but until then he would keep trying. 

Otto and Hasa didn't get along very well though. The first time Timothy met them they were arguing in the mess hall over what was better traditional green tea or English breakfast. Neither won but agreed to pick up the argument later. Personally, Timothy was more of a coffee kind of person but to each their own.

The day passed smoothly, they sailed over the Atlantic matching the wind speed in no rush to reach land. They just sort of wondered... most ghost ships sailed the astral plain, searching for other ships to battle. The Black Dove herself had just emerged victorious from a battle with the Blue Thorn. Damage taken had been minimal, though Timothy was still replacing rigging and Otto still re-plastering the deck. It had been a while since they had been boarded and boy did the Blue Thorn deliver, a grim reminder that even if their ship was one of the fastest they could still be attacked directly at any point in time.

The crew was all on edge, only just winding down from the battle. Hasa still carried his Pistol in its holster, and a good portion of the crew carried their weapons with them instead of leaving them in their rooms or on deck in the weapons bay. Timothy would have to do something about that sooner or later. Sighing he helped Otto finish the deck then offered to put the Oakum bucket away but was politely declined. pursuing his lips, he dusted off his pants, looking around he contemplated what to do next.

the rigging was already done, Hasa didn't need help now and he had already helped Otto. It seemed like he wasn't needed for now. sighing he made his way to his room, when he got there he pulled his sketch book out. before he died he had planned to be an artist, in fact, he was on his way to an internship when he died. pausing in his gathering he sighed and looked out the porthole in his room. now instead of being worried about bills and data usage he was worried about rigging and a stray cannon wiping out his room. even though there was no possible way for him to die he could still feel pain and lose a limb if he wasn't careful.

Finally, he had all his sketching pencils, walking out of his room he decided to sketch the horizon and maybe a bit of rigging. Maybe he could finally get that one last knot down. he felt terrible every time he had to ask someone to show him, learning all the knots took time to learn but he didn't have that kind of time. the previous rigger had already moved on, so rigging had been sketchy at best. 

Making his way on deck the buzz had died down quite a bit. Otto was nowhere to be seen, more than likely below deck. walking up the steps he quickly climbed the rigging to the navigation platform. biting his lip, he finally decided to sketch the front of the ship, hunkering down he laid his book on his lap and began the long process of sketching the guide lines for the ship.

Timothy passed his morning like this, the sun rising slowly as he diligently worked in his sketch book, at one point he decided to stop by the mess hall for a small snack. Other than that, he continued to work in his book. 

Around noon he closed his book, finally setting it down he moved on to checking the rigging after securing his book he gripped on to one of the many ropes rung up around him. stopping to breath he stood back, jumped, and flew.

The wind whipped his hair back and forth as he wrapped his legs around the rope and glided through the air. Wind whistling in his ears and hair slicing at his cheeks he swung towards a patch of rigging net, coiling his body, he jumped as the rope reached its highest point in its arc and began to swing back. 

His arms jarred with his weight catching on his fingers than toes. breathing out he climbed up the patch and began to inspect the rigging, nothing major needed to be fixed except a couple of knots that needed to be tightened but all around his work held rather well for a novice.

Standing he gripped onto the second rope and gazed over to the next rope net, this was the longest gap between docking points. gripping extra tight he stepped back and slowed his breathing, down below the crew took notice of him up above. many stopped working to watch him, Otto was speaking to the Captain up on the poop deck just behind him. Hasa polishing a cannon, looking down he spotted someone tap his shoulder and point up. Pursuing his lips, he nodded down to Hasa, his stomach rolled in his gut. sweat built up on his brow.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea, maybe he wasn't ready to bridge the last gap to becoming the master rigger. he'd only been at it for around a month, maybe he should hold off. just as he started to hyperventilate a voice rung out. "DO IT!" it was the Captain. the captain was cheering for him! great, now he couldn’t back down. gripping extra tight he pushed forward and jumped.

A screech rang out in the sky as Timothy swung forward, tears built up and ran from his eyes as the wind whipped them away. his head filled with static he let go of the rope as it slowed down around three-quarters of the way there. screaming his body seemed to pause in the air as he let go, his mind caught up to his body just as his fingers curled around the ruff rope crossing neatly in front of him.

Timothy hit the net with a jarring impact that knocked the air out of him, wheezing he heard the crew cheer, weakly he raised his fist in the air. slowly he peeled himself of the rope, shakily he climbed up the rope and sat atop the main beam supporting the net. panting he looked down to see Hasa clapping politely clapping while on the other side of the deck Otto was shaking the captain and pointing at Timothy, listening closely he heard both their astonishment and laughter from below. 

Turning around he began to quickly tighten the knots and finally gripped the last rope, carefully he scooted down about half way and swung off landing with a satisfying thud. When his feet touched the ground he stood back up, only to get knocked back down by a flying tackle from Otto. "TIMOTHY!!! FINALLY!!" Laughing he looked up as the captain approached, sitting up a saluted the man as he came to a stop in front of him.  
Giri crouched down and offered Timothy his hand, taking it they both stood up. Finally, the captain spoke, "great job Tim, I know you've worked hard to master that last swing and we're proud to have you as our master rigger." Timothy's breath caught in his lungs as he stammered out a polite thank you to the man. The captain only smiled and shook his head, finally he turned away and started to head back to the helm. Slowly the crew dispersed, each clapping him on the back or ruffling his hair and mumbling a quick congrats or 'good job'.

Finally, it was just him, Otto, and Hasa. Otto slapped him on the back happily telling him good job and wishing him good luck as he turned to head back below deck to finish what he was doing before Timothy decided to literally swing from one end of the ship to the other, finally it was just him and Hasa. Hasa stepped forward and clapped his shoulder politely, "So Tim, how’s it feels to be official?" smiling he replied, "great actually, I didn't actually think I was gonna make it today, I thought I was going to just crash into the deck again."

Hasa snorted and looked down shaking his head, "yeah me too, I thought Otto was going to have to peel you off the floor again." Timothy laughed quietly. "he looked pretty glad to not have to." They settled into a comfortable silence, Hasa the first to break it. "Well... I gotta finish one last cannon then I'll probably play poker with the captain." With that, he turned away but not before he said over his shoulder as he turned around. "Welcome aboard the Black Dove Master Rigger Timothy Victor Gray" finally he walked away doing a little fist pump that Timothy could only laugh at. 

Finally, he turned and faced the horizon, walking to the very front of the ship he leaned into the wind feeling the air flow around him. Yeah, he was the master rigger of the Black Dove.  
and he was going to be the best Rigger this ship had ever seen, this year was his year, and for once, he finally felt like he belonged.


End file.
